Airtel says it opened 100 retail outlets in the past 14 months

Bharti Airtel has opened 100 retail outlets in the country in the last 14 months, outlets which are owned and operated by it. The company claims this is in order to deliver the best service experience to customers.

Airtel, the largest telecom operator in India in terms of subscribers, ventured into its company-owned-company-operated (COCO) stores in February last year with the opening of its first store in Delhi.

"In a span of 14 months, this retail footprint has been extended to 35 cities and towns across 14 states," the company said in a statement.

Airtel added that its said the stores employ over 1,000 staff members. "The all new company-owned-company-operated Airtel stores leverage the best of retail practices and technology to offer a superior service experience to customers walking into our outlets," Bharti Airtel Director (Consumer Business) Srini Gopalan said.

The company said that among the new Airtel stores, there are also outlets that will be run as well as managed by women employees, and will focus on addressing the needs of female customers across the country, especially in tier 2 and 3 cities.

"We are confident that our all women's will add another dimension of empathy and perspective to the way we deal with our customers," Gopalan said.

Airtel said its COCO stores are one-stop-shops for all customer needs, with the stores also offering a collection of devices including phones and tablets.

Back in February, Airtel became the first mobile operator in India to cross the 200 million subscriber mark. The company achieved the milestone in its 20th year of telecom services.